This is a very respectful challenge to rabbis and other Jewish leaders to
engage in a public dialogue/debate via email on “Should Jews Be Vegetarians?”
This is something that Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) has been
trying to organize for many years.

We think such a debate is very important today because the mass production
and widespread consumption of meat harms people, communities and the planet and
is in conflict with Judaism in at least six important areas:

1. While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving
their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked
animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and
other chronic degenerative diseases. Efforts to cure these diseases has resulted
in sharp increases in medical expenditures, contributing to huge deficits,
making it difficult to fund social programs that many Jews and others depend on.

2. While Judaism forbids tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, inflicting unnecessary pain
on animals, most farm animals -- including those raised for kosher consumers --
are raised on "factory farms" where they live in cramped, confined spaces, and
are often drugged, mutilated, and denied fresh air, sunlight, exercise, and any
enjoyment of life, before they are slaughtered and eaten. A few examples of
practices that are sharply at variance to Jewish teachings are that over 250
million male chicks are killed annually in the US alone immediately after birth
at egg laying hatcheries because they can't lay eggs and they have not been
genetically programmed to provide much meat; hens are kept in spaces so small
that they can't even stretch a wing, and they have their beaks cut off without
anesthesia, so they won't harm other hens by pecking in their very unnatural
environment; dairy cows are artificially impregnated (raped) annually, so they
will be able to continually be able to give milk, and forced to give birth to
calves who are whisked away from them at birth, likely to become veal calves and
live a short, tortured life; and the list could go on and on.

3. While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1) and that
we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern
intensive livestock agriculture contributes substantially to global warming,
soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rain forests and other
habitats and other environmental damage. A 2006 UN report indicated that
“livestock' agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (18 percent in CO2
equivalents) than all the cars and other forms of transportation worldwide
combined (13.5 percent), and that the number of farmed animals is projected to
double in the next 50 years. If that happens, the increased greenhouse gas
emissions from these animals will negate reductions in other areas, and make it
extremely difficult to reach the greenhouse gas levels necessary to avoid global
warming's severest effects.

4 While Judaism mandates bal tashchit, that we are not to waste or
unnecessarily destroy anything of value, and that we are not to use more than is
needed to accomplish a purpose, animal agriculture requires the wasteful use of
grain, land, water, energy, and other resources. As one example, in an
increasingly thirsty world, it takes up to 14 times as much water to produce a
person's animal-based diet than to produce his or her vegan diet.

5. While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread
with hungry people, over 70% of the grain grown in the United States is fed to
animals destined for slaughter, while an estimated 20 million people worldwide
die because of hunger and its effects each year. The need to produce so much
food for farmed animals raises the price of grain, and makes it difficult for
poor people to afford the nourishment they need for the health and proper
development.

6. While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that
violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets, by wasting
valuable resources, help to perpetuate the widespread hunger and poverty that
eventually lead to instability and war. Seeing that the Hebrew words for bread (lechem)
and war (milchamah) come from the same root, the Jewish sages deduced that a
lack of grain and other resources makes it more likely that nations will go to
war.

In view of these important Jewish mandates to preserve human health, attend
to the welfare of animals, protect the environment, conserve resources, help
feed hungry people, and pursue peace, and since animal-centered diets violate
and contradict each of these responsibilities, I and JVNA argue that committed
Jews (and others) should sharply reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal
products.

One could say "dayenu" (it would be enough) after any of the arguments above,
because each one constitutes by itself a serious conflict between Jewish values
and current practice that should impel Jews to seriously consider a plant-based
diet. Combined, they make an urgently compelling case for the Jewish community
to address these issues.

So, this is an open invitation for rabbis to engage in a respectful debate on
the above issues. We are not arguing that Jews must be vegetarians; there should
be a choice, but we believe that choice should be based on the realities of the
production and consumption of meat and other animal products and how they
impinge on the Jewish values mentioned above. We believe that engaging in such
debates would be a Kiddush Hashem (a sanctification of God's Name) as it would
lead to an improvement in the health of Jews and others, reduce the current
massive mistreatment of animals on factory farms, help move our imperiled planet
to a sustainable path and enhance the commitment of Jews to Judaism, by showing
the relevance of our eternal teachings to current issues.

So rabbis, please contact me at president@JewishVeg.com to arrange a debate.
Or, perhaps choose one rabbi to represent your views. If you are not willing and
able to do this, we think, respectfully, that you should admit that our
arguments are correct, that animal-based diets violate fundamental Jewish
teachings, and tell your congregants they should shift toward vegetarian diets.

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island
Author of "Judaism and Vegetarianism," "Judaism and Global Survival," and
"Mathematics and Global Survival," and over 130 articles at www.JewishVeg.com/schwartz
President of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA)
www.JewishVeg.com
and Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV)
Associate Producer of A SACRED DUTY (asacredduty.com)president@JewishVeg.com